Saturday, 9 April 2016

Fractured - The Actors' Hub (8 April 2016)

One of the reasons fairy tales are an enduring and popular
form of storytelling is that they present instantly recognisable archetypes and
a strong moral framework. In more cynical times the “they all live happily ever
after” resolution once good invariably triumphs over evil is somehow seen as
less desirable and perhaps even a weakness as the world seldom works that way.
Moral complexity and ambiguity rule the day as evidenced by grimmer, grittier
takes on those other great fables, the comic book superhero.

Fairy tales aren’t immune to such reinterpretations with
Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s Into The Woods a prime example. What cost
does “happily ever after” demand? Fractured attempts a similar subversion with
the tagline: What Disney didn’t tell you about schoolyard wolves and the lure
of poisoned apples.

Developed by The Actors’ Hub’s Gap II students this
self-devised piece warps well known fairy tale characters and tropes into a
storyline where evil wins the day. The key difference is that fairy tales, as
well as having clear archetypes for its characters, also have distinct
storytelling patterns. The hero or heroine typically enters a special world to
undertake a task or quest to defeat some kind of villain or challenge and then
return with whatever prize comes with victory. There’s lots of rescuing of
princesses, slaying of dragons, reversing of magic spells, defeating of evil
witch/sorcerer/ogre/insert villain of choice. It’s a familiar story pattern
ingrained in our DNA and explicitly explored by Joseph Campbell and later
utilised by Christopher Vogler to become, for a long time, the pre-eminent screenwriting
template in Hollywood.

Here though the germ of a good idea – that the storybook of
each presumptive hero or heroine is being altered or even erased due to a magic
potion – is lost in unfocused storytelling. All the elements are there – evil
sorcerers, princes, princesses, a dark forest, a ball, wolves, poisoned apples -
but I was unsure of the task or quest, which character(s) was the presumptive
hero/heroine, what the stakes really were, and what was driving the story
forward.

The scene is set with three cackling sorcerers of some
description (Benjamin Constantin, Andrew Dunstan, Zach Clifford) brewing a
magic potion. A pack of wolves headed by Butch the Bulldog (Nicholas Allen) and
Blackheart the Beagle (Tyler Lindsay-Smith) entice a bored Prince Eric
(Christian Tomaszewski) and his royal buddy Prince Kristoff (Quintus Olsthoorn)
to come to a ball where three princesses will also be in attendance – Ariel
(Lauren Thomas), Cindy (Sarah Papadoulis), and Bella (Grace Chapple). Another
Prince – Adam (Daniel Moxham) – appears entranced by Cindy after an encounter
in the woods. Various characters eat the poisoned apples that contain the magic
potion and one of them disappears. The sorcerers triumph having altered all of
the other characters’ storybooks as a result. There is no rescue, no quest, no
happy ending.

A common fault with self-devised pieces is the lack of
narrative drive leading to any kind of real conflict and climax. Here the
princes are bored, the princesses seem more interested in hooking up with someone
at the ball, and the wolves are just being mischievous. The only characters
with any real motive are the bad guys and possibly Prince Adam though his
character isn’t explored in any great depth. This means there’s no narrative
momentum or the normal rhythms and turning points you would expect.

Lots of references to fairy tale characters are tossed into
the dialogue but this was all surface level. Even the concept of the storybook
was muddled as each character also had a ‘mirror’ that was used a surrogate for the
trusty mobile phone with a couple of ‘elfies’ taken along the way. A
‘Tinderella’ gag might get a cheap laugh but such references felt incongruous
and tended to undercut the fairy tale context.

Putting aside all the storytelling problems, it’s clear that
The Actors’ Hub puts an emphasis on physical movement and voice work in their
training. The wolves are a rambunctious bunch with energetic displays as they
tumble over each other to amuse Prince Eric. The forest is well portrayed by
actors contorted into different poses, some atop the other. Plenty of howling
and cackling, while tending to wear out its welcome, showcased a full-throated
approach.

The pick of the performances included Thomas as a prickly
Ariel, Chapple as the virtuous Bella, while Tomaszewski made for a slightly pompous and languorous Eric, and
Moxham intrigued as Adam. I would have liked to have seen his character better
utilised as it felt as if he could have been the classic underdog hero.

There’s no doubt this was an exuberant performance and that
there’s potential in this group of actors. However, no amount of enthusiasm and
craft can make up for what was a jumbled storyline of missed opportunities.